The Robert Morris University School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science is opening a state-of-the-art additive manufacturing laboratory at the Energy Innovation Center in the Lower Hill District. The university will celebrate the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the RMU 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Laboratory at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, February 6.

The RMU 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Laboratory will be a research and teaching facility, and the university will launch a six-course certificate program in manufacturing engineering there starting March 11. In addition to being an attractive credential for employers, the certificate’s 18 credits can be applied toward a bachelor’s degree in engineering. 

RMU also plans to offer at the Energy Innovation Center its “Empowering Pennsylvania’s Workforce for Employment in Manufacturing” program, a free, 42-hour job training program funded through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. 

“We are gratified to be able to bring our manufacturing and engineering expertise to the Energy Innovation Center and to expand on RMU’s work in meeting the needs of the Pittsburgh region’s workforce,” said Maria Kalevitch, dean of the RMU School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science.

“We all know the challenge that our hometown faces in educating and training highly qualified employees who will sustain the momentum that has made Pittsburgh a national model of economic revitalization. RMU is meeting that challenge head on,” said Kalevitch.  

The 200,000-square-foot Energy Innovation Center features research, education, and job training programs by the Pittsburgh region’s leading corporations, universities, and health care providers – including Covestro, Carnegie Mellon University, Penn State, and UPMC. The LEED Platinum certified building is a living laboratory for sustainable energy practices and technologies. 

“The EIC is eager for this collaboration to begin. We envision working with RMU on every element of this center’s mission,” said Robert Meeder, president and CEO of Pittsburgh Gateways Corporation, the nonprofit organization that founded, owns, and operates the Energy Innovation Center LP. 

“We are well aware of the university’s major strengths in energy, workforce development, innovation, corporate relationships and applied research,” said Meeder.  

The February 6 ribbon-cutting at the Energy Innovation Center also kicks off RMU’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science. The school opened in 1999 with 22 students and today enrolls approximately 900 students across 16 degree programs, including the state’s only ABET-accredited bachelor’s program in manufacturing engineering. The school is a partner in America Makes, a national public-private collaboration in 3D printing and additive manufacturing technology. It is also the home of RMU’s elite Actuarial Science program, one of only 17 in the United States designated a Center for Actuarial Excellence by the Society of Actuaries.